Then, the question that's plaguing your mind is answered:  a voice is audible throughout the landing area.  You realize it must be some kind of system with speakers placed throughout the entire ship.  The voice continues:

    "I am Captain Ian Moriarty Lothair," the voice says, "And I am now in command of this vessel.  I and my forces have placed bombs throughout the ship.  They are controlled from the Bridge, where I have the command crew hostage.  If anybody on board this ship tries to cause trouble, I will blow up the bombs in their section of the ship.  You are no longer free citizens of the Union of Planetary Republics, so don't think your lousy rights count as anything aboard this ship.  You are now my slaves, and I will sell you to whomever I please.  If you do cause trouble, the bombs will blow out sections of the ship, and let the air out.  So the one choice you have is this:  breathe vacuum, or go along with my plan."

    You half expect the Spacers from Starfalcon to whip out their sidearms and start a laser gunfight, but that doesn't happen.  Instead, they stop what they are doing and just listen.  A few go back to the Starfalcon.  A few people brandishing nasty-looking laser pistols comes your way.  Instinctively, you realize that they must be space pirates.  There's no time to move, or to run away, but you don't know what to do.  Rather than panic, you stand still as the pirates walk past.

    This all seems wrong.  All this time, you thought a space pirate attack would be full of action and fighting, not this.  And where was this Ian "Moriarty" Lothair's evil laugh?  Wasn't this supposed to be like the Twentieth Century action movies you remember?  Unfortunately, there is no "Dirty Harry," or that "Arnold Whose-his-namer," or Clint Eastwood to help you out now.

    Then, you hear it.  After five seconds, you can hear all kinds of laughing.  The intercom on the ship must still be on.  You hear somebody on the Bridge beg for mercy, and then a laser blast.  A different voice screams:

    "John!  No!"  And then crying follows.  Between the sobs, you can hear the voice saying:  "You killed him!"  Then you hear more of a scream, possibly a curse, or an insult or a threat, but then you can hear a rough voice:

    "Get her out of here, now!  Before I point this at her!"

    Maybe there is no Dirty Harry.  Maybe there is no Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone to come to the rescue.  There is no question about it.  If this ship and her crew are to survive, someone will have to stand up to the pirates.  As the intercom speaker on the Bridge switches off, you hear one last ragged cry from the woman whose friend must now be dead.  Unaware of it, you clench your fists tight.  Inside, you know that they've just lit a fire in your heart.  Those terrorists that have taken control of this ship are holding an entire city of people as hostages.  And if something isn't done, everyone will become slaves.  You have to do something, or this pirate Lothair will get away with murder.  Inside, you resolve yourself to do whatever you can to stop the Terrorist Takeover!

    That's when you realize that the pirates are coming back your way.  They must not have noticed you at first.  But if they notice you now, they'll probably take you with them.  And that doesn't sound good to you.  Seeing a crate of cargo, you dive for cover, and try to hide.  Just then, you hear a noise.  Then you realize what the people from Starfalcon were up to.  It's an ambush against these pirates!  Laser blasts fly everywhere, and you think of two things you could do:
 

Do you stay hidden behind the cargo crate and wait for a chance to escape?

Do you join in the ambush and try to beat the space pirates?
 

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